The 22-year-old Astros right-hander entered a game against a split-squad Atlanta team with a 16.62 ERA, having allowed eight earned runs and 13 hits in 4 1/3 innings. Lyles didn’t make it past the first inning versus the Braves, giving up six earned runs and seven hits in just two-thirds of an inning during the Astros’ 14-9 loss at Osceola County Stadium. His ERA hit 25.20 and Lyles — who’s expected to be the Astros’ No. 3 starter — has now allowed 14 earned runs and 20 hits in just five exhibition innings.

“I’m out there still competing. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying, ‘Here’s the ball. Hit it as far as you can. But guys are going to see the box score and they’re not going to be happy,” said Lyles, who went 5-12 with a 5.09 ERA last season but finished the year strong. “But I’m getting myself ready for April. This is spring training. At the end of the day, going into the season healthy, that’s my main focus.”

Lyles said he isn’t dealing with any arm issues. The righty’s unsure whether he’s hitting his normal velocity, but said the ball has never felt better coming out of his hand during spring training.

Lyles spent his initial two spring stats splitting the plate. He gave up 10 hits and six earned runs in two innings during a Feb. 26 loss to Tampa Bay. But Lyles entered Friday saying he wasn’t concerned about his numbers, stressing he was sticking to a pitching schedule timed with his regular-season debut in early April.

Lyles didn’t split the plate against the Braves. But he also didn’t focus on hitting the corners. And the No. 38 overall pick of the 2008 amateur draft again pointed toward April, while acknowledging his inflated numbers don’t look promising.

“I’m definitely not concerned. But I don’t think anybody in this clubhouse is happy with giving up runs after runs,” Lyles said. “It’s part of the game. But I think next outing I’ll start mixing in my cutter and slider. I think these outings won’t show up as much when I start mixing up those pitches and start going for outs more than necessarily quality strikes.”

Astros manager Bo Porter said at the start of spring training Lyles will have to compete for the No. 3 spot. But the righty has long been penciled in to the Astros’ starting rotation, while veterans Philip Humber and Erik Bedard are lead candidates for the Nos. 4 and 5 roles.

“(Friday) they just hit balls where guys weren’t. They hit balls hard. They hit balls soft,” Lyles said. “The credit goes to them. Nothing to do with me, really. When it comes down to it, I could make a couple more better pitches. But I’m not throwing all my pitches right now. The scoreboard doesn’t look good, but that’s not my main focus right now.”

Porter said Lyles has been elevating his pitches, leading to sharp contact. But the club is not overly concerned with Lyles’ shaky start and he’ll continue to make regular appearances in the rotation.

“There’s still a lot of time left in spring training and we feel very confident that he’ll be ready to go when the season starts,” Porter said.